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BTN to provide extensive coverage of spring sports

March 19, 2013

BTN to provide extensive coverage of spring sports

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Big Ten Network will provide extensive coverage of Penn State sports in the spring of 2013, airing at least five contests between the baseball and softball schedules, two lacrosse games and the annual Blue-White Game on Saturday, April 20. This season, more than 220 events will be airing on BTN, BTN2Go and BTN.com, including the entire Big Ten Baseball Tournament at Target Field in Minneapolis.

BTN, BTN2Go and the Penn State Sports Network will provide live coverage of Penn State's Blue-White Game at 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 20. There is no admission or parking fee for the Blue-White Game. BTN’s spring football coverage includes the Big Ten Football Report every Wednesday and Saturday nights beginning April 10. BTN’s coverage plans for other spring games will be announced at a later date.

Penn State baseball will open BTN’s coverage of the 2013 season, with the third game of the three-game series against Indiana being aired on Sunday, March 24. Coverage will begin at noon ET from Bloomington. At least two more Nittany Lion contests will air live, with Kent State traveling to Medlar Field on Tuesday, April 9 and the Lions heading to Michigan on Sunday, April 14. The Big Ten Baseball Tournament will begin on Wednesday, May 22 in Minneapolis, with BTN, BTN2Go and BTN.com covering all 10 contests of the championship.

Nittany Lion softball’s midweek doubleheader against Purdue April 17 will be shown live on the Big Ten Network with the first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m. from Beard Field at Nittany Lion Softball Park. The Big Ten tournament will also receive late-round coverage as the network will broadcast both semifinal matchups May 11 and the championship contest May 12.

Penn State lacrosse will receive its first air time on Big Ten Network in high definition when men's and women's lacrosse are broadcast on Apr. 13-14. The Nittany Lion men's lacrosse team hosts Towson on April 13 at 1 p.m., a game that will be shown live on BTN, while the women's team will play Ohio State on April 14 at 1 p.m., with a same day, tape delay broadcast on BTN at 6:30 p.m. ET.

For the men's lacrosse team, the regular-season home finale against Towson game will be Senior Day in Happy Valley. The Penn State-Towson game will be the third men's lacrosse game shown live this year and its second national broadcast. Penn State defeated Denver Feb. 17 on NBC Sports Network and played Lehigh Mar. 9 at Chester's PPL Park on ESPN3.com with a tape delayed broadcast on Comcast SportsNet in Philadelphia.

On the women's side, the American Lacrosse Conference matchup between Penn State and Ohio State pits the traditional Big Ten Conference members on BTN. The opening draw is slated for 1 p.m. and the Big Ten Network will broadcast the game that night at 6:30 p.m. A week later the Nittany Lions tangle with Johns Hopkins for a Sunday, April 21 broadcast on ESPNU.

About BTN: A joint venture between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Networks, BTN is the first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering one of the premier collegiate conferences in the country. With more than 800 events, all in HD, the 24/7 network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans and alumni across the country, allowing them to see their favorite teams, regardless of where they live. BTN2Go is the 24/7 simulcast of BTN that delivers live and on-demand programming via the internet, smartphones and tablets to customers of participating video providers. Events include football, men’s and women’s basketball games; dozens of Big Ten Olympic sports and championship events; studio shows; and classic games. The network televises and streams more Olympic sporting events and women’s sports than has ever been aired on any other network. Original programming highlights activities and accomplishments of some of the nation’s finest universities. The groundbreaking Student U initiative provides real-world experience for students interested in careers in sports television. The network is available to more than 90 million homes across the United States and Canada, and currently has agreements with more than 300 affiliates, including AT&T U-Verse, Atlantic Broadband, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Rogers Cable (Canada), Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct (Canada), Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS. For additional information, go to www.BTN.com.